Published: Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 4:21 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 10:28 p.m.

Photo Galleries

ARLINGTON, Texas — It was all over their faces. From senior forward Erik Murphy's tears on the bench to senior guard Kenny Boynton's outstretched fingers that covered his eyes.
Florida suffered its third straight Elite Eight exit from the NCAA Tournament after a 79-59 loss Sunday to Michigan in front of a crowd of 36,585 at Cowboys Stadium. This one wasn't as close or heartbreaking as the previous two, but just as painful.
There were no double-digit leads blown, like in Florida's 2011 Elite Eight loss to Butler or 2012 Elite Eight loss to Louisville. Instead, the Gators trailed by double digits for most of the game.

“It's difficult.” Boynton said. “I really, really wish we could have made it to the Final Four, but I think the better team won today. They were the better team. I wish we could start the game over, but we can't.”
That was apparent from the opening tip. Michigan (30-7) jumped to a 13-0 lead before the Gators (29-8) got their first basket on a Will Yeguete layup. Florida's gameplan to pound the ball inside early failed because for the second straight game, Patric Young and Erik Murphy couldn't finish around the basket. The duo combined to miss UF's first three shots and never got into a consistent flow offensively.
Overall, the Gators finished the game just 41.1 percent from the floor and 20 percent (2-10) from 3-point range. One of those 3-pointers came from freshman Dillon Graham in the closing minutes.
“You can't beat good teams like that,” Boynton said. “We missed a lot of layups. It just wasn't outside shots but I think with a good team, they made us pay.”
Asked if the background at Cowboys Stadium impacted the shooting, Boynton replied: “Definitely not on layups, we do those every day. It was mental.”
Boynton scored 13 points in his final collegiate game and Yeguete added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
But Young picked up two early fouls for the Gators and was never a factor inside, finishing with eight points and seven rebounds. And Murphy would end up 0 of 11 from the floor in his final Florida game, his worst career shooting performance as a Gator.
“Obviously, it's not what we wanted,” Murphy said. “They just wanted it more. They got it done. We didn't.”
Again, Murphy refused to use a stomach illness he suffered earlier in the week as an excuse, insisting he was 100 percent
“We just missed shots,” Murphy said. “Our defense was bad, that's what hurt is.”
Florida wanted to pound the ball inside because it felt Michigan didn't have a shot-block presence around the rim. Florida coach Billy Donovan said he felt the 6-foot-10 Murphy had a size advantage inside against 6-6 Michigan forward Glenn Robinson III. Also, Florida wanted to get Michigan freshman center Mitch McGary in early foul trouble.
But instead, it was Young who picked up his second foul at the 18-minute mark of the first half.
“I just had to play smarter,” Young said.
McGary had his way inside early, scoring eight of Michigan's first 15 points. Then, the Wolverines burned the Gators from outside. Florida was forced to go to a zone defense with Young back in the game with two fouls. With the defense collapsing on Michigan's All-American point guard Trey Burke, the Wolverines found freshman guard Nik Stauskas wide open on the perimeter. Stauskas went 5 of 5 from 3-point range in the first half, several on wide-open looks from the corner.
“They have really good chemistry,” Young said. “They know each other's tendencies and what they had to do.”
Stauskas' fifth 3-pointer of the half put Michigan up 41-17. Florida closed the half with a 13-6 run but still trailed 47-30 at halftime. The 47 points are the most Florida has given up in a half this season.
“Some of the 3s that Stauskas got off were our fault and some of it was just really, really good offense by them,” Donovan said.
Asked if the Gators could have done anything differently on defense, junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin said: “It's tough. I could say maybe we shouldn't have helped sometimes on the pick and roll, but (Burke) is such a great player that people are going to focus on him and help even if they might not need to because they're aware of what he can do.”
Stauskas led Michigan with 22 points. Burke added 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and McGary had 11 points and nine rebounds, carrying Michigan to its first Final Four since 1993. Michigan will play Syracuse in Saturday's second national semifinal in Atlanta.
“We felt like today the key was to come out and throw the first punch,” Burke said. “Nik played one of his best games all season. We noticed that he was hot early on in the first half. We tried to continue to find ways to find him when he was open.”
Florida carried over some momentum early in the second half, starting with a 6-0 run to cut Michigan's lead to 47-36.
But Michigan regained momentum when McGary converted an inside layup and Spike Albrecht picked off an inbound pass from Yeguete and converted an easy layup. The four-point swing put Michigan back in control, 54-38. From there, the Gators never cut Michigan's lead to lower than 14 points.
“I just think we didn't do enough things there on both ends of the floor,” Donovan said. “I thought our defense in the second half was a little bit more characteristic of the way we've played this year. I thought our offense in a lot of ways, because we had some very, very good quality looks, deflated us.”
Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or brockwk@gvillesun.com. Also check out Brockway's blog at Gatorsports.com.

ARLINGTON, Texas — It was all over their faces. From senior forward Erik Murphy's tears on the bench to senior guard Kenny Boynton's outstretched fingers that covered his eyes.
Florida suffered its third straight Elite Eight exit from the NCAA Tournament after a 79-59 loss Sunday to Michigan in front of a crowd of 36,585 at Cowboys Stadium. This one wasn't as close or heartbreaking as the previous two, but just as painful.
There were no double-digit leads blown, like in Florida's 2011 Elite Eight loss to Butler or 2012 Elite Eight loss to Louisville. Instead, the Gators trailed by double digits for most of the game.
<hr/>
<center>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/Gatorsports" target="_blank">
<img src="/assets/images/widgets/GXsports/Teezers/GXFacebookTeaserSmall.jpg"/><br />
</center>
</a>
<hr />
“It's difficult.” Boynton said. “I really, really wish we could have made it to the Final Four, but I think the better team won today. They were the better team. I wish we could start the game over, but we can't.”
That was apparent from the opening tip. Michigan (30-7) jumped to a 13-0 lead before the Gators (29-8) got their first basket on a Will Yeguete layup. Florida's gameplan to pound the ball inside early failed because for the second straight game, Patric Young and Erik Murphy couldn't finish around the basket. The duo combined to miss UF's first three shots and never got into a consistent flow offensively.
Overall, the Gators finished the game just 41.1 percent from the floor and 20 percent (2-10) from 3-point range. One of those 3-pointers came from freshman Dillon Graham in the closing minutes.
“You can't beat good teams like that,” Boynton said. “We missed a lot of layups. It just wasn't outside shots but I think with a good team, they made us pay.”
Asked if the background at Cowboys Stadium impacted the shooting, Boynton replied: “Definitely not on layups, we do those every day. It was mental.”
Boynton scored 13 points in his final collegiate game and Yeguete added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
But Young picked up two early fouls for the Gators and was never a factor inside, finishing with eight points and seven rebounds. And Murphy would end up 0 of 11 from the floor in his final Florida game, his worst career shooting performance as a Gator.
“Obviously, it's not what we wanted,” Murphy said. “They just wanted it more. They got it done. We didn't.”
Again, Murphy refused to use a stomach illness he suffered earlier in the week as an excuse, insisting he was 100 percent
“We just missed shots,” Murphy said. “Our defense was bad, that's what hurt is.”
Florida wanted to pound the ball inside because it felt Michigan didn't have a shot-block presence around the rim. Florida coach Billy Donovan said he felt the 6-foot-10 Murphy had a size advantage inside against 6-6 Michigan forward Glenn Robinson III. Also, Florida wanted to get Michigan freshman center Mitch McGary in early foul trouble.
But instead, it was Young who picked up his second foul at the 18-minute mark of the first half.
“I just had to play smarter,” Young said.
McGary had his way inside early, scoring eight of Michigan's first 15 points. Then, the Wolverines burned the Gators from outside. Florida was forced to go to a zone defense with Young back in the game with two fouls. With the defense collapsing on Michigan's All-American point guard Trey Burke, the Wolverines found freshman guard Nik Stauskas wide open on the perimeter. Stauskas went 5 of 5 from 3-point range in the first half, several on wide-open looks from the corner.
“They have really good chemistry,” Young said. “They know each other's tendencies and what they had to do.”
Stauskas' fifth 3-pointer of the half put Michigan up 41-17. Florida closed the half with a 13-6 run but still trailed 47-30 at halftime. The 47 points are the most Florida has given up in a half this season.
“Some of the 3s that Stauskas got off were our fault and some of it was just really, really good offense by them,” Donovan said.
Asked if the Gators could have done anything differently on defense, junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin said: “It's tough. I could say maybe we shouldn't have helped sometimes on the pick and roll, but (Burke) is such a great player that people are going to focus on him and help even if they might not need to because they're aware of what he can do.”
Stauskas led Michigan with 22 points. Burke added 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and McGary had 11 points and nine rebounds, carrying Michigan to its first Final Four since 1993. Michigan will play Syracuse in Saturday's second national semifinal in Atlanta.
“We felt like today the key was to come out and throw the first punch,” Burke said. “Nik played one of his best games all season. We noticed that he was hot early on in the first half. We tried to continue to find ways to find him when he was open.”
Florida carried over some momentum early in the second half, starting with a 6-0 run to cut Michigan's lead to 47-36.
But Michigan regained momentum when McGary converted an inside layup and Spike Albrecht picked off an inbound pass from Yeguete and converted an easy layup. The four-point swing put Michigan back in control, 54-38. From there, the Gators never cut Michigan's lead to lower than 14 points.
“I just think we didn't do enough things there on both ends of the floor,” Donovan said. “I thought our defense in the second half was a little bit more characteristic of the way we've played this year. I thought our offense in a lot of ways, because we had some very, very good quality looks, deflated us.”
<i>Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or brockwk@gvillesun.com. Also check out Brockway's blog at Gatorsports.com.</i>